The history of Norwood Young America is a unique, small-town tale of two villages that joined together over time. Young America was founded in in 1856, while Norwood was not founded until almost thirty years later. Young America’s first settlers were mainly belonging to one of two heritages, German or English. The town experienced tension over what to chose as a name for themselves. The name that was ultimately chosen was Young America by the English. However, the German locals stubbornly changed the lettering on the town’s sign to Teuteburg, the name of a city in their home country. However, the sign was completely destroyed by oxen, and the German’s took this as a bad sign. Their next option was to name the town Florence. Unfortunately, much to their dismay, they discovered that there was already a city in the state with the same name. Therefore, they finally settled on Young America.

The neighboring city of Norwood was established for a unique reason. The Hastings and Dakota Division of the Milwaukee and St. Louis Railroad was built in 1972. However, the tracks were a mile from Young America, due to the town refusing to pay the necessary charge. James Slocum, one of the town’s locals, decided to build a station that would allow Young America access to the railroad, even though it was still a mile away. The development of the station brought infrastructure to the already established residential community that shared its location. This infrastructure encouraged the local town’s growth, and the state legislature decided to name the area Norwood Township in 1874, after Slocum’s good friend.

The area of Norwood was already more developed than Young America, as it had twice as many residents. Norwood became officially incorporated in 1881. The two cities decided to merge after a close vote by each town’s combined residents. They finalized the merger in 1995, and the new name for the city became a combination of the two cities’ names. Today, the town is considerably more developed with close to 3,600 residents.

If you have any questions regarding the city of Norwood Young America, Minnesota, or if you would like to sell or buy a house in the area, please feel free to visit TwinCitiesPropertyFinder.com or call 1-800-909-1953.